Apparatus for manufacturing slivers



March 23, 1943; J. L. TUCKER EI'AL 2,314,857

' APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SLIVERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Nov. 29. 1935 5%ENTORS BY W j TToRNEY March 23, 1943. J. TUCKER E-rm. 4 5

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SLIVERS Original Filed Nov; 29, 1935 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTIORS. I flum March 23, 1943. I Y TUCKER ETAL 2,314,857

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SLIVERS Original Filed Nov. 29, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORY ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 23, 1943 APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SLIVERS Jesse L. Tucker and George M. Lannan, Newark, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Original application November 29, 1935, Serial No.

52,085, now Patent No. 2,264,345, dated December 2, 1941. Divided and this application April 29, 1940, Serial No. 332,138

6 Claims.

Our invention relates to apparatus for making strands, slivers or yarns of fibers for use in the manufacture of textiles or for various other uses. This application is a division of our copending application, Serial Number 52,085, filed November 29, 1935, now Patent No. 2,264,345, dated Decemher 2, 1941.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide apparatus for making a strand or sliver of glass fibers which are grouped together and compacted to provide a high degree of mass integrity and strength, which enables the strand to be wound on spools and subsequently unwound therefrom and withstand the strains to which it may be subjected in the usual operations incident to the production of fabricated articles.

Another of the objects of the invention is to provide apparatus adapted to form a sliver or strand having the foregoing characteristics from individual glass fibers originally unoriented or arranged haphazardly relative to one another, and which have been attenuated and produced by means of a gaseous blast.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus for producing a strand of long, fine intermatted glass fibers and means for causing the cross section of said strand to approach a compacted form.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a part sectional side elevation of I apparatus for continuously producing slivers, embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a plan View of the apparatus.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the apparatus, certain parts being omitted.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional elevation of the apparatus.

The present invention provides means for producing a sliver of glass fibers by simultaneously flowing a multiplicity of small streams of the molten vitreous material, subjecting said streams to a pneumatic or fiuidic drawing force by which they are attenuated to the form of fine flexible fibers and simultaneously hardened or solidified, accumulating the fibers into the form of a'mat in which they preferably lie criss-crossed with one another in mat formation, and then drawing the matted formation into strand form whereby the fibers tend to approach relative parallelism and lie predominantly in a longitudinal direction but held together in interlaced formation to give mass integrity and strength. We have provided means for drawing the fibers into strand form that will compact the individual fibers relative to one another and fold free ends of the individual fibers into the strand whereby'the cross-section of the strand tends to approach a more nearly condensed or compacted form and the strand itself is smooth and clean. 7

The apparatus of the present invention'is particularly adapted to form slivers from the group of materials consisting of inorganic'substances or compounds which at high temperatures assume a molten or viscous condition and which may be drawn into fine fibers while in such condition and rapidly solidified. Among such materials we have obtained highly satisfactory results with solutions of metal oxides in silica, or a solution of silica and metal oxides in each other. A specific example of such a solutionpand one with which we have obtained excellent results in practicing our method, is a solution having the formula of ordinary glass batch such as-i's generally used in the manufacture of bottles and numerous other glass articles.

Another group of materials capable of being processed by our improved apparatus may be defined as thermo-plastic. These, when'heated, assume a viscous condition permitting them to be drawn into'fine fibers by means of blowers. Examples of such thermo-plastics are cellulose acetate, sugar, rosin and vinolite. Still another group of materials that'may be processed comprises substances which-may be dissolvedin a solvent, the latter being evaporated during the process of forming the fibers. Rubberis an example of such a material. 1

Referringparticularlyto Figure 1, the material for making the sliver may be supplied iroin a container H) from which the material flowsin a multiplicity of small streams l I. Where glass is the material to be reduced to fibers, said container as here shown may consist of a glassmelting or refining tank. The streams I I as they issue from the tank descend through a blower I2. This may be a steam blower of suitable form and construction, to supply a strong blast of steam which grips the flowing streams and carries them downward at a high velocity. .This pulling iorceattenuates the viscous streams of material to the form of fine filaments which are instantly solidified While passing through space.

The fibers as they are formed, accumulate on a support 13, here shown ,as an endless reticulated conveyor consisting of woven wire screen or other openwork material. The conveyor l3 runs on rolls l4 and I5 and is drivenby anele'ctric The motor has a driving connectionmotor 16.

with the drive roll through speed reduction gears including worm gearing l1, belt l8, pulleys I9 and 20, and belt 2i.

Beneath the upper lead of the conveyor I3 is a suction box from which air is exhausted by means of a fan or other suction mechanism (not shown) communicating with the suction box through a duct 28. A damper 21 in said duct is adjustable by means of an adjusting device 2'! to adjustably regulate the degree of vacuum or exhaustion within the suction box. The fibers as they are formed, accumulate on the conveyor l3 directly over the suction box, in the form of a thin web or mat 23.

During the formation of the fibers, the streams of viscou material are drawn into the turbulent zones of the steam blast and are whipped back and forth in a zigzag or irregular path in such a manner that each individual stream comprises a multiplicity of united sections or leads, all of which are being simultaneously drawn or attenuated by the force of the blast, so that the total fiberv length produced from each stream is far greater than it would be possible to produce if the stream were maintained in a single straight path during the fiber formation. It is to be understood that the action of the steam blast on a stream, as just described, does not generally disintegrate it or break it up into short lengths. On the contrary, the flowing stream maintains its integrity or continuity indefinitely, resulting generally in the formation of fibers of great length. In other words, the fibers as thus produced are in the main practically continuous in length and generally speaking, remain integrally united with the oncoming stream or supply body of the material throughout their formation.

In practice, thesefibers are usually found to be many feet in length or practically continuous. They are also drawn out to extreme fineness, sometimes having an average diameter as low as three or four microns. The, individual fibers being of microscopic dimensionsare usually invisible during the formative process and can only beseen after they collect in the form of a thin mat or web on the conveyor 13. The illustration of these fibersin the drawings is for the purpose of indicating in a general way, the operation which takes place. It-will be understood that. the drawings greatly exaggerate the size of the fibers and also that the number of-fiber lengths accumulating on the conveyor is much greater than can be accurately depicted by the drawings.

The fibers forming the mat 28 are collected and drawn through a funnel-shaped guide 30 or trumpet to form a strand or sliver 31 which, as it is formed, is wound on a spool or holder 32. The suction within the box 25 maintains a continuous downward draft of air through that portion of the screen conveyor on which the fibers are accumulating. This holds the accumulating mat of fibers against the screen with a certain pressure so that a substantial amount of force is required to draw the. collection of strands off the screen and through the funnel during the formation of the sliver.

The steam and the air blasts created, respectively, by the blower l2 and suction box 25, during this sliver formation operate to hold the mat against the pulling action of the sliver and the steam and air pass through the sliver being formed and tend to align the fibers so that they are straightened out as they approach the funnel guide and thereby form asliver in which the fibers are substantially parallel and predomitions may be made to obtain a strand of substantially any desired character, size and weight. Ow-

ing to the'great length of the individual fibers,

which are in effect substantially continuous in the formed sliver, any given length of the sliver which may be placed under tension in the usual manufacturing operations, as, for example, a few inches or even a few feet, possesses great tensile strength. Owing to the length of fibers the sliver is not broken by the tension placed on it while being wound on the spool 32. The tensile strength of the sliver is ample to permit weaving, knitting or textile operations to which it may be subjected, thusv obviating the necessity of twisting the strand to give it strength. Means may be employed, if desired, in connectionwith the apparatus to twist the sliver for giving added strength, compactness or permanency of form,,for better adapting it to certain specific operations and uses.

The sliver 3| is pulled from the conveyor and wound on the spool 32 by means of a winding drum 35 mounted on a shaft 36 journaled in standards 31, the latter mounted on a machine frame 38. The winding drum is driven by an electric motor 39 which operates through speed reduction gearing contained within a gear box 40, the motion being transmitted from said gearing through av sprocket chain 4| to a sprocket on the drumshaft 35.

The spool 32 .is removably mounted in a frame comprising a pair of arms 42 fixed to a shaft 43 which is journaled in the standards 31. r The spool 32 with the accumulating sliver thereon is held by gravity against the face of the winding drum and frictionally driven thereby. The sliver isv evenly distributed on the spool by means of a distributing arm 44 ,which is connected by a pivot 45 to a bracket arm 46, the latter mounted on a horizontal bar 4'! secured at its ends to uprights or standards 48. The arm 46 is adjustable lengthwise of the rod 41 and is secured in adjusted position by means of a clamping bolt 48.

The distributing. arm 44 is provided at its forward end with a guiding loop 49 through. which the sliver extends.

The arm is oscillated. for uniformly distributing the sliver on the spool by means of acam 50 mounted on the shaft 5|, the latter driven as by means of a sprocket chain 52 running. over sprockets on the shafts 5i and 36. A slide-bar 53 is mounted for lengthwise reciprocatingmovement in the upper ends of the standards 48. A cam roll 53 carried by the bar, 53 at one end thereof, bears against the face of the cam 50.. A coil spring 55 attached at one end to the bar 53 and anchored at its opposite end to a standard 48, holds the roll 53 against the cam so that as the latter rotates, a reciprocating movement is imparted to the bar 53. An arm 55 mounted on the bar 53 and extending downwardly therefrom, is adjustable lengthwise thereof, and is held in adjusted position by a set screw 56. The lower end of the arm 56 is formed with a yoke or fork. 51 which straddles theflarm .44. ,The reciprocating movement of the bar 53. and arm 56 oscillatesthe --distributing arm 44 about its pivot 45, the cam 50 being so designed that an even distribution of the sliver on the spool is obtained. A coil spring 58 connected to the distributing arm 44 and the arm 56, takes up or prevents any lost motion between said arms.

The winding drum 35 is driven at a peripheral speed much greater than the speed of the conveyor l3 on which the mat 28 is accumulated, so that during the formation of the sliver, the mass of fibers is drawn out or attenuated to a considerable extent, the number of individual fibers in a cross-section of the sliver being much less than in a cross-section of the mat as it leaves the conveyor l3. In this connection it will be noted that in the accumulated mass or group of fibers leaving the conveyor IS, the individual fibers are doubled back and forth or extend in a devious path, so that the action of drawing out or attenuating of the mass of fibers or sliver as a whole consists largely in drawing the individual fibers more nearly into a straight line or straightening them to some extent. Comparatively few of the fibers are broken in this process. Means are provided for adjusting th speeds of the motors l6 and 39 independently of each other and thereby separately adjusting the speeds of the conveyor is and the winding drum 35. Such adjusting means comprises rheostats 59 and 60 in the circuits of the motors i6 and 39 respectively.

The standards 31 are adjustable lengthwise of the frame 38 and are held in adjusted position by brackets 61 secured to the frame by bolts 62 which extend through bolt holes 63 in the framework. The standards 48 are adjustable lengthwise of the frame 38 in like manner. A take-up device 64 for the sprocket chain 52 is also adjustable along the supporting frame to accommodate said chain to relative adjustments of the standards 31 and 48. The trumpet 30 is adjustable toward and from the standards 58, adjusting means 65 being provided for this purpose, and is also adjustable up and down by means of an adjusting device '56. The container It! is vertically adjustable on its supporting frame by means of a rack 61 and pinion 68.

The arms 42 which carry the winding spools, are provided with longitudinal slots 10 to receive the spindles of said spools. While one spool is being wound, an empty spool may be placed in position at the upper ends of said arms. When one spool is filled, the spool frame is swung about the axis of its shaft 43 to swing the full spool upward and bring the empty spool into winding position. The sliver is then severed between the 7 two spools, permitting the winding to proceed on the spool which has just been lowered. The filled spool may then be removed and replaced by another empty spool.

Although the apparatus as shown and as above described is particularly adapted for making a strand or sliver, the apparatus may also be adapted for forming a continuous mat or ribbon by the same general method. Such mat or ribbon may consist of fibers more or less interwoven or made in a ribbon-like or sheet formation. The downward draft of steam and/ or air through the screen I3 is directed and controlled to a certain extent by a pair of shields or plates ll positioned above the screen, said shields being upwardly and outwardly flared. The shields also serve to guide the descending fibers and define the width of the accumulating mat. The shields are carried on arms 12 which have slot and pin connections '13 with the framework, permitting the shields to be adjusted to the desired position.

In order to show the tensile strength of slivers consisting of glass fibers and made by the apparatus herein disclosed, we give below a tabulated statement showing the values obtained by a series of tests which we have made to compare such slivers with those as heretofore made of materials such as cotton and asbestos. This tabulation gives the weight in grains per yard of length of the samples tested, the length in inches of each section of sliver tested, and the tensile strength measured by the weight in grains required to break the sliver, as follows:

. 2 length 4 length break in break in gr grains gr.

Cotton 67 1248. 94 793. 10

Untwisted roving Asbestos 8 452. 76 420. 42 Glass 45 15199. 80 W327, 24 Do 22 9220. 74 9337. 24 Do l 11 6246. 24 4732. 42

Modifications may b resorted to within the spirit and scope of our invention.

We claim:

1. The combination of means for simultaneously flowing a multiplicity of streams of viscous glass from a supply body, a blower by which the streams are attenuated to filamentary form, a horizontally traveling screen conveyor beneath the blower on which the fibers are deposited and accumulate in the form of a web, means for moving said screen at a rate substantially less than the rate of deposition of said fibers so that the fibers double back and forth on the conveyor, mechanism for continuously pulling a strand or sliver from said accumulated fibers at a rate substantially higher than the speed of movement of said conveyor, and means cooperating with the pulling mechanism for compacting the fibers together in parallel relation in the form of a sliver.

2. The combination of means for simultaneously flowing a multiplicity of streams of viscous glass from a supply body, a blower therebeneath by which the streams are attenuated to filamentary form, a horizontally traveling screen conveyor beneath the blower on which the fibers are deposited and accumulate in the form of a web, means for moving said screen at a rate substantially less than the rate of deposition of said fibers so that the fibers double back and forth on the conveyor, mechanism for continuously pulling a strand or sliver from said accumulated fibers at a rate substantially higher than the speed of movement of said conveyor, and means cooperating with said mechanism for grouping the fibers together in compact parallel relation in the form of a sliver, said pulling mechanism including a winding drum, a spool on which the sliver is wound, and means for distributing the sliver on the spool.

3. The combination of means for flowing a plurality of streams of viscous glass from a supply body of molten material, means for attenuating the streams and solidifying the same to form fibers, a traveling foraminous surface on which said fibers are deposited, means for moving said surface at a speed substantially less than the speed at which the fibers are conveyed thereto so that the fibers accumulate on said surface in a matted mass in which individual filaments are doubled back and forth in such manner that the cross-section of the mass contains many more lengths of filaments than the number of said streams, means for holding the mass to said surface, and mechanism for continuously pulling said mass from said surface against the action of said holding means to form the mass into a sliver.

4. The combination of means for flowing a plurality of streams of viscous glass from a supply body of molten material, means for attenuating the streams to form fibers and for conveying the fibers from said first-named means in a gaseous vehicle, a traveling foraminous surface intercepting the path of movement. of said fibers, means for moving said surface at a speed substantially less than the speed at which the fibers are conveyed thereto so that the fibers accumulate on said surface in a matted mass in which individual filaments are doubled back and forth in such manner that the cross-section of the mass contains many more lengths of filaments than the number of said streams, means to create a current of gaseous medium passing through said surface in the zone of deposition of fibers thereon to hold the mass to said surface, and drawing mechanism for continuously pulling said mass from said surface against the action of said current of gaseous medium to shape said mass into sliver form.

5. The combination of means for flowing a plurality of streams of viscous glass from a supply body of molten material, means for attenuating the streams to form fibers and for conveying the fibers from said first-named means in a gaseous vehicle, a traveling foraminous surface intercepting the path of movement of said fibers, means for moving said surface at a speed substantially less than the speed at which the fibers are conveyed thereto so that the fibers accumulate on said surface in a matted mass in which individual filaments are doubled back and forth in such manner that the cross-section of the mass contains many more lengths of filaments than the number of said streams, means for holding said mass to said surface, and mechanism for continuously pulling said mass while still united with the supply body from said surface in the general direction of movement of said surface, said mechanism arranged to operate to pull said mass at a speed substantially higher than the speed of movement of said foraminous surface to thereby elongate the mass into the form of a sliver.

6. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of means for flowing streams of viscous material downwardly from a source of supply, means for attenuating the streams into fibers and directing said fibers downwardly, an endless foraminous surface spaced beneath said firstnamed means and on which said fibers are deposited, means for continuously advancing said surface in its plane to cause the deposited fibers to accumulate progressively on said surface in the form of a matted web, means for continuously moving the web relative to said surface in the general direction of movement of said surface, and suction means beneath said surface for holding said web to said surface against the action of said web moving means to thereby aid in shaping the web into the form of a sliver.

JESSE L. TUCKER. GEORGE M. LANNAN. 

